Dave from Sydney Australia

G’day team, Dave from Australia, A 54year old lefthanded newbie.
I bought a guitar in October 2021and found Justin’s lesons the next day, I’m starting module 4. its slow going. I want to find some blues riffs to try out as my goal is to play some blues songs before the end of 2022 Not sure how to go about that should I jump ahead to blues lesons or just try some random YouTube blues riffs? Cheers

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Welcome to the community Dave

Hey Dave, welcome, I’m glad you hopped on over here :kangaroo:

@DJBlister I hope you don’t practice so hard you end up with blisters on your newbie fingers. Slow is good, work through the Nitsuj lessons just as Justin teaches them. Get it right first time, set up a solid foundation and it will serve you well.

Then you’ll go boing boing over the Nullabor plains singin’ the Blues. :kangaroo: :kangaroo: :kangaroo:

Welcome to the community, good to see another New South Welshman here. I started 10 years ago at the age of 53, and so glad I stayed the course. See what keeps you playing, some stick to the lessons doggedly, others cherry pick what they need. Keep at it and have fun.

Welcome Dave from a fellow Aussie.

I’m 52 and started here 18 months ago. You’re in for a whole lotta fun if you stick around. The early months will pass quickly.
Nothing wrong with havin’ a poke around the site at some blues stuff. As long as your main focus for now is on following the lessons and getting some basics down.
You may find you progress quicker than you think though, so some blues may not be too far off.

Lookin forward to see how progress.

Cheers, Shane

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Warm welcome to the Community, Dave.

You are in the right place to achieve your blues ambitions.

Everybody has their own approach. My South African 2cs worth … follow Justin’s course, module by module, lesson by lesson. In doing so you will lay solid foundations and begin playing the blues in Module 13.

Of course you can look ahead and dabble, guitar needs to be fun and not just disciplined learning and practice, just guard against that detracting from following the course.

Hope to hear you playing soon.

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Hi Dave and a warm welcome to the community.

As it is for everybody, you’ve adopted a new way of life that will last your life time. No race.

Neither is my clear advice.
Random youtube surfing is a timekiller that will stunt your forward progress in acquiring the fundamentals of skill, technique, rhythm and musicality.
Jumping ahead to Justin’s blues lessons is to jump too far ahead just now.
Follow the learning path that Justin has spent years teaching, developing, improving and that works.
Step by step.
You will come to blues work in Grade 2 so keep that in mind.
In the mean time, get your chords and chord changes and left and right hand technique and coordination working together and learn songs and have fun.
:slight_smile:

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Hi Dave. I have the same taste and goal like you.

10 years ago I bought an electric guitar for my son and at the same time wanted to start learning blues by myself. I bought a book call “Blues Rhythm guitar” by Keith Wyatt. After a few pages of open chords, it talks about 6th, 9th and 13th chords. I had totally no clue what happened and stopped in two weeks. I don’t count that two weeks as my starting point of guitar journey at all.

8 years later I picked up the same guitar again, and luckily I discovered Justin Guitar site and the beginner app. I can tell from my experience, following the basic course is very important to build a solid foundation for blues. I skip anything related to finger style. After one year and having lots of fun, finally I started learning blues again. Now I’m at blues rhythm course (Grade 6), back to 10 years ago the same point and reading the same “blues rhythm guitar” book.

I wish you find pride and joy in the blues guitar journey.

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HI Dave and welcome.

Some good advice given already, follow the windy road.
Avoid YouTube dipping it will throw up a host of rabbit holes and you’ll quickly lose your way and likely your mojo. Just enjoy the ride. :sunglasses:

Hello Dave, great to have you here. :slight_smile:

Hi Dave, and welcome. As has already been said above stick with the program and take it as steady as you need to. I’m 50 years old in February and I’ve been following the beginner course for just over a year. I’m still consolidating grade 1 and i’ve found that i’ve picked up a few bad habits with my strumming which I want to iron out before I move on. No rush, just enjoy the journey. Good luck :slightly_smiling_face:

Welcome, Dave!

Slow and steady will get you there. In fact, it will get you there faster than trying to move ahead too quickly.

You could certainly try out some things that are more advanced than your current level, or explore stuff just because you’re enthusiastic about it. Learning guitar should be enjoyable. However, that kind of experimentation and exploration should be an “extra” to your regular practice. My advice is to stay the course and follow Justin’s method. He knew what he was doing when he set it up, and it will serve you well. So keep to consistent, regular practice using Justin’s path, and if you want to add some “playing for fun and exploration” do that as an addition. I wouldn’t dive into the blues lessons as their own thing, yet. Lay a proper foundation, first, then build on it.

Welcome Dave. It’s all been said. Stick to the course and don’t YouTube dip. Look forward to more from you as you progress.